During the production of oil from an oil well, the oil typically is passed through a suitable separator for removing entrained gases. When it is economically attractive to collect such gases for use as fuel or for other purposes, such collection can be done; however, in many cases, economic conditions require that the well operator dispose of such gases. To prevent the discharge of noxious gases directly into the atmosphere, it has been the practice for many years simply to burn or flare the gases at a location near the well head. Similarly, when such gases are generated during refining of oil, they can be flared at appropriate locations to the refinery. Various methods and apparatuses have been developed over the years for igniting such gases.
A number of problems have been encountered in use of such prior art methods and apparatuses. For example, the ambient winds at the location of the well or refinery may be such that maintaining combustion of the flare gas is relatively difficult. In some cases, the gases to be ignited include a considerable quantity of entrained condensates of water and hydrocarbons so that the igniting electrode used in many systems becomes carbonized or gummed up with the partial combustion products produced during local evaporation and combustion of such condensates. Another difficulty with some prior art methods and apparatuses is that a separate source of combustible gas is required for the purpose of producing a pilot flame which will ignite the flare when gas is released from the well head or refinery. The need for such a separate source of gas results in unwanted complications for many applications.